


Games of Slaughter

by StoryQueen



Category: Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Alcohol, Blood, CEDA, Catcher in the Rye - Freeform, Dirty Thoughts, Dominance, First Kiss, Horny Ellis, Insanity, Jealousy, Masturbation, Memories, Near Death, Nudity, Partial Nudity, Past Drug Use, Pining, Public Nudity, Rebellion, Rebuilding Society, Sexual Tension, Sharing a Bed, Showers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-13 07:43:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4513653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoryQueen/pseuds/StoryQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you're awaken from such an hidden nightmare, is it really safe to go back to sleep?</p><p>Being saved was all that matter to them, but when they found their sanctuary, they felt the chains of the old society wrap tightly around their neck. The freedom they felt now relies on working for the enemy to create a new society in which they themselves can rule as Gods...</p><p>In other words: they get saved by CEDA, hate it, but have to work for CEDA to save other survivors and do what CEDA should have done to begin with and re-establish society and... well, yeah, a lot happens...</p><p>(NOTE: Tags will be updated as new chapters are posted...)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Crying Skies

**Author's Note:**

> ****  
> [BASED OF THIS SELF-PROMPT](http://jessthequeenofstories.tumblr.com/post/125954274164/au-where-they-get-saved-by-ceda-and-they-end-up)  
>   
> 
> The year the great seventh number is accomplished,  
> Appearing at the time of the great games of slaughter:  
> Not far from the age of the great millennium,  
> When the dead will come out of their graves.  
> \-- Michel de Nostredame

There's something about rain that has begun to scare the living shit out of Ellis. It used to be something amazing; camping out in a field-turned-bog with Keith, surfing down Main Street during a hurricane with Keith, screaming a rain-dance with Keith with an orchestra of thunder and lightning responding to their every cry. Ellis tilt his head to place his ear on the windowsill. The rain was now drowning out those childish fires.

When he heard crying, he thought for a second that a witch had broke into the building, but then he remembered that CEDA had made sure that this facility was secure and that only immune survivors were allowed inside. His ears picked up more, trying to pinpoint who was crying.

He lifted his head up off the sill and turned into the room. "Hey, do you hear that cryin'?"

There was a rustle of paper as Nick flipped the page of the book he had claimed from the make-shirt library, the torch taped to the bedpost above him creating a halo of light around his freshly washed hair. He looked up, shoulders tense, something that Ellis was now quite use to seeing whenever someone pointed out a sign that one of the unique zombies were around, but then Nick dropped his shoulders with a sigh. "I think it's Ro, again."

Ellis jumped off the end of his bed that he was knelt on and slowly paced across the room. This place was small. Large, compared to the millions of Safe Rooms they've stayed in over the past two months, but there was still a sense of claustrophobia that clouded the twenty-or-so people who now lived here. Ellis looked out through he bars on his and Nick's bedroom door, eyeing the shadows of one of the CEDA agents who patrolled the corridors at night. "Somethin' ain't right with her, man." He placed his hand on the closed door, pressing his side of his nose against the bars. "She still cryin' over Francis?"

Nick gave a sigh, and there was something in the way he did so that made it sound like he was signing in pity rather than because Ellis was annoying him again. Nick didn't respond, instead he turned another page and sunk out of reality again.

Ellis ignored Nick. Nick had been acting weird since they were saved. They all had changed since then. There wasn't any more zombies to be afraid off, no more running, no more killing, no more rushed, half-arsed first aid and getting high off epinephrine. Nick was reclusive again. He sulked himself to the pile of books in the corner of the supply cupboard and left reality through the paged portals, stopping only to eat and to-- on rare occasions-- answer his roommate's questions. Coach was quiet. He still seemed like Coach, but instead of a sort-of father figure he was now a grandfather figure, letting people look after themselves and only speaking when spoken to. Rochelle was fine at first. She partied a lot, as much as someone was able to party in a box room with only one beer to share between herself and Ellis and an old record player which only had failed smooth jazz. It was when Francis became ill that she quietened down and became as reclused as Nick.

Ellis would have liked to think that he hadn't changed much, but as the weeks dragged on, he was beginning to realise how different he had become. At first, he thought it was Nick who had drastically changed, ignoring Ellis' remarks and remaining calm instead of shouting and taunting him, but it wasn't. Instead, Ellis himself had stopped talking about useless things. He couldn't remember the last time he spoke Keith's name, nor does he remember being risky, or loud, or witty. He only spoke useful things, and when he realised that, it shocked him.

The CEDA Camp where the handful of immune survivors lived was a house of depression, and Rochelle's echoing cries brought the light of the situation into the darkness of Ellis' surroundings.

"This ain't right..." He stumbled away from the door before turning on his heel and collapsing onto his bed face down. He closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of filth that still seem to haunt him, before rolling over to face Nick across the room. "Why're they keepin' us here still?" he mumbled. He didn't expect a response.

"Maybe so they can use us for lab rats," Nick mumbled back, slouching more where he sat on his bed, "or maybe so they can collect more survivors and mass execute us."

"Do ya really think that or are you just sayin' that to try'n scare me?"

This would have been the point where Nick chuckles and throw Ellis a smirk, but instead he sighed, closing his book and turning the torch off, and turned over and buried his head under the think sheet. "I don't know, kid."

It was quiet all of a sudden. The rain outside had stopped, leaving a headache of an after-effect upon which it beat, and Rochelle has settled down. It was chilly, and as much as Ellis wanted to crawl up under his own thin cover, he stayed on his side, staring at the black blur that was Nick's silhouette across the room.

What were they doing here? He knew the whole point of why they fought off the hoards and tried to survive is so that they can be saved by CEDA, but now... Now that they were safe, now that there was no danger... What now?

Ellis was sick of waking up at 7am. Ellis was sick of eating breakfast. Ellis was sick of fixing military tanks. Ellis was sick of eating dinner. Ellis was sick of fixing military 4X4s. Ellis was sick of eating tea. Ellis was sick of being in his room for 7pm. Ellis was sick of falling asleep at 10pm. Rinse and repeat.

He finally turned over when he heard Nick's breathing level out and stared at the patch of dark grey on the ceiling where some of the plaster had fallen off. He was tired. He had to get some sleep before he woke up usual time tomorrow. He had to fix that M1 Abrams tank tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

"Jesus Christ," he whispered to himself, finally pulling the sheets from under him and wrapping himself in them to try and get rid of the goosebumps the draught from the window was giving him. He shut his eyes and held his breath for a second before sighing into his pillow. "Jesus Christ."

 


	2. Down in the Books

It didn't really come as much of a surprise; not after what Nick said. They were keeping them for something. It had been about a months and a half since arriving at the CEDA camp, six weeks of listening to Nick jack off at night and staring out of the window at the empty, dead courtyard of the once nursing home. Ellis thanked God when something unusual happened, thanking the disruption of his daily routine that was driving him insane. He held back a smile when a lab-coated agent came into his workshop and told him that they were having a meeting in the main hall. After wiping the motor oil off his hands onto his new overalls, he got up, not giving the unfinished motor of the rusty 4X4 a second glance before making his way to where the others had all packed tightly into the small space.

An agent who went by the name Gabe, a stocky man with thin-rimmed glasses who obviously held a high place in CEDA, most likely due to his brains rather than physical skill, stood on a stool by where the TV used to sit, and after almost toppling off, mumbling under his breath that it was the rotting stool leg rather than his weight, he coughed to address the twenty-or-so people as if he were God.

"Now," he said, looking around at everyone's eager faces. Ellis pushed through the slight crowd and found Nick, pressing his arm into Nick's side to get a better look at the agent. "I think it's pretty clear by now that the rest of the survivors are probably hiding somewhere and don't know about the helicopters." Agent Gabe looked sheepishly at the agent stood by the door. "They're probably just waiting for us to go to them."

"Then why don't you?" a middle-aged man shouted from the back. There was a mumble of agreeance in the room before Agent Gabe hushed them with a wave of his arm. "Yeah, you see, that's the problem; there's not enough agents."

Coach, who was closer to the front, gave a huff. "What do ya mean? You mean to say you ain't helpin' those people?"

"No, no; we didn't say that!" Agent Gabe pulled at the collar of his sweatshirt he wore under his lab coat. "It's just... errm... there's not a lot of agents left, and..." He scanned the glares that were piercing him, "well, we figured you guys were better fighters than us."

"You what?" someone shouted. There was an uproar from the small crowd.

"Better fighters?"

"You mean to say we risked our lives and you won't?"

"Sons of bitches!"

"Are we just pawns to you?"

"Settle down, settle down," one of the agents by the door shouted. He was more of a leader than Agent Gabe, not as high of a position than the former, but certainly held a stronger control over the group. "Look, all he's trying to say is that you guys know more about those God damned things than we do. We're the science; you're the survivors. If you make agents go out there to save other survivors then you're only gonna get a bloodbath of wasted human lives. We know how to use microscopes; not MJ14s."

Ellis mumbled under his breath, "They're MK14s..."

"All that we're saying is that if we have any chance of saving more immune survivors and recreating society, we need the more experienced fighters to help us. Do you want to let those bastard's win? Do you want them to take over the world? Drain the last of society?" The agent took a step towards the group. "You are stronger than us. You are more powerful than us. This is the rebirth of the world, and you were the chosen ones to survive and recreate life." He strode slowly past the survivors like a commanding officer in front of his bravest soldiers. "God chose us. There is a reason we're all still here. Our ancestors had to fight blood and bone to create the society we used to live in, so," he looked down at where a little girl held her mother's arm, "for our future generations-- and trust me, we will have future generations, for many years to come-- we must sacrifice what's left of our souls and sanity to bring order back to this world, and create the perfect society once more."

A man started clapping, and his wife joined in. Half of the room started applauding the agent, a gingerly glimpse of hope. He was right, in such a twisted and sick way, he was still right. Ellis looked up at Nick at his side. Nick breathed in heavily and sighed, bowing his head in defeat and slowly placed his hands together in a slow, reluctant clap. Ellis had never see Nick so submissive, so consumed by defeated. Ellis raised a hand intent to place it comfortably on Nick's arm, but their attention was drawn away as Agent Gabe silenced the room again.

"Thank you, Agent Harrison. So, what'cha guys think?"

"It's risky," a lad no older than Ellis said, "but I think it's worth a shot."

"How's it gonna work?" a lady dressed similarly to the clothes Francis used to wear asked.

"Well," Agent Gabe stuttered, "teams of four seem to have worked so far. We'll send you guys to the areas we want you to secure. We'll supply you with weapons and armour and air-backup. Just kill all of the zombies and make sure no more get into the quarantined areas."

"You know those bitches climb up them walls?" Coach voiced from where he was lent against the wall.

Agent Gabe looked confused. "Oh, they're good climbers?" _Stupid CEDA_ , Ellis thought, _don't even know anything about the infection._

"Wait, if we're supposed to kill them, does that mean that you don't think there' a cure?" Louis voiced from the back.

"Well, even if there was a cure, they're that disfigured and inhuman, I don't think they'd want to be alive." Agent Gabe gave a cough to drown out the protests he knew were coming. When Ellis thought about it, it made a little bit of sense. If he was a Spitter, he wouldn't want that acid goo inside of him, nor would he want to be fat and ugly like the Boomers, or look like he was a sex addict locked in a room like the Chargers. But then he thought about the normal ones. They still looked pretty normal. Yeah, half of their faces were peeling off, but it looked more human than some of the others. And the Hunters and Witches. He'd be alright being conscious in one of their bodies.

"So, are you guys gonna help?" Agent Gabe asked. There were a few immediate yeses but mostly it was a mumble of maybes.

"But we're safe here."

"I'm not letting Lizzie out there again," the mother of the child panicked.

"We're only letting volunteers out there. But there has to be at _least_ 12 volunteers, three groups. And let me tell you this," Agent Gabe jumped down from the stool and stood eye-level with the survivors, "those who do volunteer will be treated as heroes in the New Society. You will be the ones who go down in the history books. Imagine," he waves his arm through the air dramatically, " _your_ name, written in every book, mentioned in every speech, thanked for every Thanks Giving-- no, every _New_ Thanks Giving, dedicated to those who volunteered to help rebuild the New Society."

Agent Harrison probably sensed that Agent Gabe might overdo it so stepped it. "We'll give you guys time to think about it. You better get back to what you were all doing. Think about what groups you would be best in. You guys know each other better than we do." Nobody moved for a second. Agent Harrison waved his arms. "Go on, then."

The room emptied as everyone got back to their jobs. Ellis stuck close to Nick as they walked with the crowd, wanting to talk with him, but soon got separated down different corridors and found himself back in his workshop with the rusty motor. He sat down at his stool, leaning his back against the propped up 4X4 he was working on and gave a sigh. He slowly brought his hands up towards where he could feel the chains digging into his neck. There was a sense of weightlessness, and Ellis had to reach down and grip the stood to pull himself out of the feeling.

He was right. The chains of society were pulling at him again, as if his shackled wrists weren't enough. He sighed, standing up to fetch the screwdriver and continued his work.


	3. The Edge of Some Crazy Cliff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **The title of this chapter comes from a quote from The Catcher in the Rye:**  
>  _". . . I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all."_

"Are you volunteering?"

"Ellis, I'm not going to talk about this right now." Nick slouched more into his bed, trying to keep his attention on his new book. The pile of books in the supply cupboard was now generally accepted as being Nick's property and nobody else really touched them.

Ellis lent up against the wall, legs tucked up, arms wrapped around his legs, his nose resting on his arms. "C'mon now, Nick. Ain't 'cha wantin' to go back outside? Ain't 'cha bored here?"

"Nope."

Ellis glared at him. This new Nick wasn't very nice. Granted, Nick wasn't very nice to begin with, but this new Nick was too quiet. "Y'all okay? You seem awfully quiet."

Nick spared Ellis a glance before closing his book. Ellis expected Nick to turn the torch off and roll over to go to sleep like he did most nights, but he didn't. Instead, he sat more upright and lent against the wall opposite Ellis, one leg tucked up. He gripped the black material of his new trousers in his fingers, as if he was holding back something, but said nothing that would indicate so. "Ellis?"

"Yeah-huh?"

Nick squinted across the room in the duskiness, as if he was studying Ellis' face which was hidden behind his arms. He was silent for a moment, as if questioning whether or not to speak, but sighed and gave into the temptation to break the quietness. "Ellis, do you ever feel like freedom is claustrophobic?"

Ellis gave it some thought. "Well, I guess. Why? Y'all bored, or some'ut?"

Nick shrugged. "Kinda, I guess."

Ellis decided to confess. "You're different since ya been here. Kinda depressed and all that shit. You okay?"

"I don't know, kid." Nick rolled his head back with his eyes closed. He let out a groan of frustration before dropping his head to glare at Ellis through his eyelashes. "Maybe I just think this whole thing was a little bit... anti-climatic."

Ellis nuzzled his nose further into his arm until he could smell nothing but the grimy soap he scrubbed himself raw with three days ago. "What'cha mean?"

"I mean," Nick said, dropping the leg he had propped up down so the springs of the thin mattress made him jump in rebound, "I kinda expected to die back there. You know, going down in a blaze of glory."

Ellis squinted in confusion. "So, what'cha sayin' is that y'all depressed 'cause you ain't dead?"

Nick bit his lip. "I don't wanna be dead, I just..." He looked past Ellis along the wall to where the half-moon was dimly illuminating the courtyard. "I just don't want to be alive here."

"Here, as in _here_ , or here as in this world?"

Nick closed his eyes for a second before suddenly jumping up from his bed. He took one step and crossed the small space of the room before kneeling in front of Ellis and lent forward, hands pushing the wall either side of Ellis' head. "I mean, I need get out of here."

Ellis stared at Nick for a moment. He felt like he should have been a little bit intimidated, but he felt like the other Nick was showing, the Nick he liked, the Nick that was cocky and taunting and looking for a fight. "You're gonna volunteer, then?"

Nick smirked; Ellis felt relieved when he did. "I'm not gonna work for those bastards."

"What'cha mean?"

Nick finally got out of Ellis' face, opting to sit next to his friend instead of sucking all of the oxygen out of Ellis' personal space. "Well, how many agents are there?"

"Here or all of CEDA?"

Nick shrugged.

Ellis thought. "Probably 'bout five here. All'f them: probably fifty or so..."

"And how many zombies can we kill in a few seconds?"

Ellis gave Nick a questioning look, not sure where this was going. "Probably hundred, or so..."

"How easy would it be to kill the CEDA members?" Nick said with a smirk plastered on his face. Ellis stared at him for a minute or two in silence, wondering the exact time and date when all the sanity left in Nick had packed their bags and left. Nick, after staying frozen, waiting for a response, laughed and playfully nudged Ellis with his arm. "It'd be easy. Those bastards can take their ideology and shove it up their asses." He gave another hoot of a laugh before ragdolling against the wall, his head landing on Ellis' arm.

Ellis let go of his legs, causing Nick's head to land in his lap. "Ya're insane, you know that, Nick?" Nick giggled, looking up to Ellis, and yep; Ellis can now confirm that Nick was 100% insane. "Ya know, Nick, they got all that guns 'n stuff. They can jus' shoot ya if you tried 'n kill 'em all off." Ellis poked Nick's forehead. "And what 'bout the zombies? CEDA's idea makes sense. Find survivors, cut off an area, restart society 'n all." He poked Nick's head a few more times, hoping it'd help get his point into Nick's head.

Nick closed his eyes, as if the poking was therapeutic, and the grin slowly faded into a soft smile. "I've kinda given up on the whole picket fence bullcrap."

"Is that 'cause y'all was readin' that bullcrap book again?"

"The Catcher in the Rye?" Nick thought for a moment. "Yeah, a little bit."

"That stuff ain't good for ya." Ellis had been brought up being told that that book was a sin; he Mama and teachers all told him so. Keith had read it once, hidden in the tree-house in his garden, hiding it as if it were porn. He said it was boring, that the main character just complained the entire time about bullcrap people don't really care about. "I don' want'cha to turn into that Caulfield guy."

"Forget the book." Nick's hand found Ellis' hand, and Ellis felt very strange. Just when he thought he had got the old Nick back, he lost him again. Nick squeezed Ellis' palm between his thumb and forefinger in a solid pinch either side of his hand, hard enough to make Ellis squint but not enough for it to hurt. "What if we did what CEDA wanted, and as soon as the New Society is made, we take them out and become the rulers ourselves?"

"I don' really see the point. They seem to know what they're doing."

Nick released Ellis' palm, much to Ellis' relief, but clenched his hand around Ellis' wrist instead. "Ellis. Do you really want to live in a world where _fucking_ CEDA rules over it? _Fucking_ CEDA, the same _fucking_ CEDA which massacred innocent people, the same _fucking_ CEDA who'd rather flee with their tails between their legs than stand up to the _fucking_ zombies." Nick sat up, kneeling next to Ellis, hand still wrapped around Ellis' wrist. "Do you really want that to be who we bow down to everyday?"

Ellis looked back and to from his wrist to Nick. The old Nick was suddenly back, his eyes glowing the same sort of knowingness and confidence that Ellis had begun to trust so much. Nick was right. CEDA was hopeless. CEDA was unlawful. But CEDA was still their only hope.

"We need 'em to save the others," he mumbled.

"That's why we'll take them out afterwards." Nick reached forward and grabbed Ellis' other wrist in his free hand. "Ellis, we can do it."

"I don' see why ya draggin' me into this."  
"Ellis," Nick sighed, letting go of his friend's hands, "look, I think this might be our only chance of truly surviving. Becoming slaves to CEDA will be like being an actual zombie. I'd rather be eating brains than kissing Gabe's feet." Ellis pulled a face at that idea. Nick smiled. "See, you think I'm right."

Ellis debated it for a second. "I think y'all crazy."

"But I am right?"

Ellis sighed, comfortably slapping Nick's shoulder and giving it a quick shake. "Yeah."

Nick relaxed. It seemed like Ellis' agreeance had brought him back into sanity. He lazily smiled, bring an arm to loop around Ellis' shoulders. "So, you and me?"

"What 'bout the others?"

Nick shrugged. "We'll see if they wanna join in."

"All of 'em?"

Nick half-smiled. "I don't see why not. The bigger the resistance, the better the result, I guess..."

There were footsteps in the hallway, and after flicking both of their heads to look at the door, Nick jumped off Ellis' bed and hurried to turn off his torch. The CEDA agent walked past, stopping at the other end of the corridor to tell someone to turn their lights off and go to bed. Nick lay down in his bed. Ellis went to do the same before he saw Nick look up again. "I'm sorry if I went a bit crazy there, Ellis."

Ellis shrugged. "Don' worry, man."

Nick sighed. "I just feel like this whole thing is consuming me." Ellis saw Nick rub his neck in the dark. "It's just hard to breath, let alone think."

Ellis climbed under his cover and turned over to sleep. "I know what you mean."


	4. Death was Thrilling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This is what the armour looks like :)](http://cdn.hiconsumption.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Zombie-Riot-Gear-1.jpg)

When the gun slipped into Ellis' hand, it sent a sudden chill of electricity through his arm and down his spine. Even through the gloves. Oh, how he missed this. He looked around past the helmet he has lazily slopped onto his freshly washed curls; that was probably the last shower he'd have in a while. There was exactly 16 people in the room: three groups of four survivors and four CEDA members, handing them guns, ammo, health packs, grenades, etc.

Ellis caught Nick's eye. Ellis shrugged his shoulders, pulling a face. "This armour's heavy."

Nick chuckled. "I thought you of all people would be okay with the weight." Ellis assumed Nick was referencing the muscles he had under the black-clad armour.

Ellis chucked as well. "Yeah, I'll yet used to it."

Louis came up the other side of Ellis and bumped his shoulder. "Aww, man. Are we really going back out there?"

Nick shrugged a laugh. "I know; it's crazy."

Louis half-smiled knowingly at Nick. "It'll all work out alright in the end."

The end. Louis knew what that meant. They all did. It had been easy to convince people to resist. Most of them pissed off at CEDA to begin with and stood by Nick's beliefs. As for those who were reluctant, Nick's conman abilities shone through, and they've got at least 99% of them convinced. I didn't take long.

Zoey slapped Ellis' lower back as a greeting, and Ellis convinced himself that she was actually aiming a little lower. "So, you guys ready?"

The four of them had teamed up. Rochelle had opted to stay with Francis, who's health was still roller-coasting, and although it would have been better for Coach to stay, due to his health not being as good as it used to be, he ended up noticing the sixteen year old girl who had volunteered and pushed her back, taking her place instead. He was placed in a team with some of the others who were very accepting and more abilitating to Coach's slowness.

Despite the fact that they were all dressed head-to-foot in black police-style armour, each team had four backpacks coloured blue, orange, white and green, (Nick, Zoey, Louis and Ellis respectively) so that everybody would tell who was who, even without seeing their faces. It was a bit impractical compared to their own clothes and their own faces being uncovered, but since CEDA wanted to minimise injuries and fatalities, the gear was mandatory. Microchips were apparently also mandatory, despite how much Ellis thought CEDA didn't even have the authority to track them, and after a painful injection into the back of their left hands to insert the chip, they were ready to go.

There was a helicopter on the roof that was going to drop the three groups in different locations. They made their way up the fire escape to where the make-shift helipad sat. The wind current from the helicopter's blades wasn't helping with the rain that was pouring from the skies again, and Ellis felt the urge to pull up the half-neoprene mask over his face just to block out the pellets of rain slashing at his face.

Once on the helicopter, he perched himself between Nick and Zoey on one side of the cabin. They took off a few minutes later without a hitch, the weather causing a little turbulence, but other than that it was quiet. Peaceful. It was a brief reflection of how suddenly everything can change in this world, how one minute they're bleeding to death and they next bored out of their minds. It also reminded Ellis of when they got saved, when the nightmare ending and the awakening began. For some reason, going back had the same sort of relief as it did being saved. It was becoming apparent how much he yearned to be back, how much he craved to be on the edge. Life was boring, but death was so thrilling; so why not kill things 24/7? Ellis chuckled at that thought. Man, in Keith was there right now...

There was a small submarine-like window just past Nick's shoulder, and after about twenty minutes of flying, Ellis looked over to see outside. They were close enough to the ground to see the shuffling figures down the alleys and streets of the urban world below them, but far enough away that none of them turned to look up at them due to the noise. It was always strange seeing the zombies peaceful, even when they were on the ground, peeping around the corner to see if the coast of clear, because they pose no impending doom. They would be just slouching against walls, crying, curled up on themselves, walking around with no purpose. It reminded Ellis of the poorer side of Savannah, where the homeless and jobless slouched on the kerb, begging, waiting. Ellis would always mumble a silent prayer when he and Keith used to walk through their neighbourhood on their way to their tree-fortress in the woodlands.

"We're getting close to Team A's destination," Agent Harrison, who was sat close to the front of the craft, said, turning to where Coach's team was all sat. He handed the four team-members a map each which had a square marked off in a red Sharpie. "We'll bring the fencing tomorrow. When it arrives, enclose the area and eliminate all the infected within the zone. If you find any survivors, radio us and we'll come and get them. Is that clear?" Team A nodded.

The helicopter landed on top of a tall office building and Team A jumped off, Coach smiling at Nick and Ellis before placing the half-neoprene mask and goggles onto his face and joining the rest. They lifted off again, and within half an hour they had landed on another tall building, the maps this time in Ellis and his team-mate's hands, and much like Team A, Team B covered their faces and jumped onto the concrete roof below them. Ellis stood back and watched as the helicopter lifted off again and soon the world fell silent.

They were back.


	5. Sometimes When You're Drunk You Can See Better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title Quote from Damien Hirst.
> 
> Note: Remember that the Safe House in this chapter is in a 7-storey building, but only takes up the 4th, 5th and 6th floor. Confusing, I know, but you have to remember this. So when the sentence says Safe House in it (eg, "the 2nd floor of the Safe House") it's talking about the 5th floor, but the 2nd floor that the Safe House spans across... I would have made it easier for you, but I'm an arsehole....
> 
> Also, apologies for Ellis' lingo. This is in no way offensive to people with a Southern drawl, but I like writing in accents... Be thankful it's only Ellis with the accent... His accent is cute, anyway :)
> 
> Oh, and this is what the map looks like...
> 
> Yellow X= Where they started...  
> (The Safe House to the right of the Yellow X is where they stay...)  
> Blue X= Mentioned in later chapter (Heli-drop off field)  
> Safe House Symbols= Safe Houses... (Duh...)  
> Red Line= Quarantine Zone they need to put the fence...

There was a Tetris of grey cubes that swept across to the thin green line that ran across the horizon which seeped into the swirling pinks and oranges of the sunsetting clouds. It was breathtaking in a sort of gaspy way and the haloing glow was shadowing the movements on the streets below. Glancing down at his map, Ellis could see where the river beyond the houses lay, the same river the fence was to be built along. He traced his eyes along the straight and around to the corner of the outskirts of the town, where it ran towards them and beyond the wall behind them. This zone was theirs to look after. This small city was now their kingdom.

The black-cladded soldier with the blue backpack, which was now the only indication that it was Nick compared to his clones which stood next to him, nudged Ellis in the side. "Come on. It's going to be dark soon. We should find a Safe House before we become sitting ducks."

White-bagged Louis pointed at his map. "They've marked out where there are some Safe Houses."

"Wow, that was kind of them," Nick sarcastically said as he strode over to look. Louis pointed his now stocky finger due to the gloves at the square that represented the building they were now on, drawing his finger to where the Safe House symbol was drawn about three streets away.

Orange-bagged Zoey looked up in the general direction of where the Safe House was. "Is it in that building?"

Nick cackled. "What, the one with the big sign on the top that has the Safe House symbol on it?"

"Someone had some guts to climb up there and spray-paint that on," Louis said with a laugh, folding his map up and shoving it into his backpack.

Zoey started to make her way towards the door to go downstairs. "Well, there's enough guts to go around."

Ellis smirked. "Zombie guts!"

They all went inside the stairwell to leave the roof, guns pointed forward, ears once again, after so long, perked to listen out for the grumbling and screaming and coughing and crying and gurgling and shouting and general disturbing sounds those bastards hollered like a battle cry.

The first three floors down were clear, one depressed-looking girl slouched in the stairwell of the fourth floor down, a barricade of tables and office chairs on the stairs brought them into an office room with half a dozen dead and undead zombies lurking around, and for the most of it they stayed quite still, mostly due to the beeping of the fire alarm that wanted new batteries in the opposite corner. They found their way to the outdoor fire escape, which, as long as they ran down quickly and quietly, they wouldn't catch the attention of any of the infected through the shadowed glass. There was a few odd ones on the metal stairs, and Nick easily pushed them over the railing with his arm as if he were swatting a fly. They made it down, much to their relief, and the quietness and uneventfulness of the escape made Ellis scrunch up his eyebrows under his goggles.

"Huh, y'all think that were too easy?" he mumbled quietly. Nick gave a huffed laugh in response before the four of them started walking down the street towards the billboard sign.

They didn't shoot anything-- they had discussed it earlier and agreed that they shouldn't draw too much attention on their first day-- and their only problems were a badly aimed Spitter who they outran around a corner and a Hunter that seemed to spot them but then gave up the hunt unexpectedly quickly, instead pouncing in the general direction of where a Boomer was waddling next to an alarmed car. They ran to the Safe House after that. The Hunter pounced the Boomer, the car alarm went off, and some general infected ran straight past the survivors to where the action was taking place. They entered the building and ran up the stairs, finding the Safe House on the fourth floor, door at the top of the stairs and three whole floors for them to crash in that night.

It was a relatively nice Safe House, Ellis thought. A thin seven storey apartment building that was kept relatively nice. There had been lots of other survivors in here; the scribbles on the walls and the neat pile of rubbish in the corner by the window was evidence enough. He threw down his gun and slumped off his backpack as soon as the door was closed. He let Nick and Louis scan the other floors for any wandering zombies which had managed to get in, and after hearing a thud from upstairs, he assumed they found one. A body dropped past the window a second later, and the sight of it made Ellis smirk. Stupid zombies.

Zoey took off her head gear as well, smiling at Ellis as soon as she was lent against the opposite all than him. "Alright, tiger?"

Ellis smiled and nodded. If Keith was here, he'd probably mock Ellis about the colour his cheeks turned. "Yeah. Jus' seems a bit strange bein' back here."

Zoey smile somberly. "Yeah, I know. But hey," she stood up from the wall and began to walk to the stairs, "you have to admit, it's more free than CEDA's cooped-up cage." She walked away from Ellis and waved her arms by her side and rolled her neck. "Bit more room to spread my wings."

Ellis found himself saying it, despite regretting it a moment later. "You're an angel."

Zoey smirked over her shoulder. "Nah, more like an eagle. Hunting those bastards." She laughed before running up the stairs, halfway up screaming a loud "caw". She was too full of energy, and Ellis had to laugh at her. She really was beautiful.

Ellis followed her upstairs to where the other three, now recognisable after they had removed their head gear, were looking around. Nick smiled at Ellis when he saw him. "They've got beds here."

Ellis chuckled. "Thank God."

"And this place has solar panels," Louis said excitedly, bouncing on the heals of his feet with a grin on his face. "I found microwave noodles in the cupboard. _We can use the kettle and the microwave!_ And they left the fridge on! Cold beers for everyone!" Electricity was now the saving grace of this world.

There was an extreme energy that pumped throughout the Safe House. Nick was smiling, Louis couldn't keep still and Zoey's voice kept getting louder than it should have to stay unnoticed by the infected. The Safe House had windows on all but one walls with only a thick strip of barbed wire stopping the infected from climbing the walls into the floors where the Safe House was, but it was still best to keep the noise down.

Ellis, meanwhile, felt the energy seep into his pours and make every muscle in his body melt into the floor. He lay on his back, the warm, good quality, edible noodles having the same effect on his as the weed he shotgunned from Keith that one (or maybe three) times. It might have just been his sudden munity to alcohol. He closed his eyes and breathed in heavily through his nose. The stench of blood filled his nose and the whiff of decay smirked his smile. He had missed this.

"So," Louis said, finally changing the subject from Pineapple Kittens that was trending the Internet before the Apocalypse, "are we going to decide who's sharing?"

"Who's sharing what?" Zoey asked.

"The bed." Louis put down his empty plate. "There's three beds."

Ellis turned his head to look at him. "Ain't there a couch?"

Nick looked down at his friend. "Ellis, if you want to sleep on a couch that a Boomer puked on then you do that." Oh, so that's why they were sat on the floor instead of on the sofa. "Well, I'm not sharing."

Ellis smirked. "Jus' 'cause you wanna jack off."

Nick glared at him while the other two laughed. Louis raised his hand. "Well, in that case, then I'm getting a bed by myself as well."

Zoey covered her mouth while laughing, making a pig snorting noise in the process, which set her off more. "Louis!"

Ellis took a moment to put two-and-two together. Sharing with Zoey: he'd be okay with that. "Well then, you dir'y fucks can have yer beds."

Zoey looked at Ellis with a smile. "I can't believe these two."

Louis smirked. "Well, we're men. We have things we need to take care of."

"What, and girls don't?" And oh, that put a picture in Ellis' head.

Nick placed his empty plate on top of Louis'. "Can we stop talking about that." He was blushing. Ellis wouldn't say that to his face, because Nick would punch him, but he was. It was probably because he knew that Ellis could hear him every night when he woke up around three in the morning to do his business.

"Yeah, we should stop talking about it," Louis said, taking a quick sip from his beer, "and start doing it. Goodnight." He jumped up from where he sat and, after bumping into the banister in a drunken waltz, ran up to the third floor of the Safe House to one of the beds up there, Zoey and Ellis laughing the whole time.

Nick looked out of the window at the pitch black sky. "Yeah, we should all get to bed now."

Ellis frowned. "Aww, but I ain't tired none."

Zoey knelt up and rubbed his arm. "We can stay up a bit later, if you want?" And Ellis admits that his drunken mind took it that she was talking about something other than talking in bed.

"Well," Nick stood up, "you crazy kids get to bed soon. We have some bastards to kill tomorrow." He went upstairs to his own room after a few exchanges of goodnights.

Ellis expected to stay where they were sat, but Zoey pulled Ellis up by his arm and led him across the room to where their room was on the same second floor of the House. She closed the door behind her and sat on the end of the bed. It was dark in the room, the only light being the moon that was playing hide and seek behind the dark storm clouds that were threatening to erupt overhead, but Ellis could make out Zoey pulling the chest and back shields over her head and then pull the thick protective jacket off as well. He stood still by the door, watching her undress from her CEDA uniform until she was only in her black boy-shorts and tank top, white bra frill poking out from the edges where the two necklines didn't match up. She stopped folding her trousers and looked up at him. "You gonna get undressed or what?"

This was an invertation. He stumbled forward away from the door, struggling to pull the shields off as gracefully and she did, in the end getting tangled up in the straps and finding himself freed with Zoey's help. She laughed; he blushed.

He'll admit that he was hard when she had finally helped him get down to his boxer briefs and his own "always be yourself, unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman" tank top. She didn't point it out, but on reflection Ellis thinks that the eye roll she did as she turned around might indicate she saw it, but she crawled under the covers and pulled them back so he could join her. He did, and he afterwards thanked God he didn't do anything weird before it clicked in his head that sex wasn't her idea of entertainment.

"What was life really like for you before this all happened?" she asked, laying down on her side to watch him talk. "I know you were a mechanic and all, but really, what was it like?"

And Ellis thought about it, because when he realised that there was no sex, he needed to think of something other than Zoey, and thinking of his old life brought too much happy and painful memories that he was surprised his boner didn't go down straight away. What was his life like?

"Well, have I told yer 'bout my buddy, Keith?"

Zoey chuckled. "Maybe."

"Well, see Keith and I worked at this garage, fixin' up them people's cars and all. And it was a pretty easy job, since Keith's dad was a mechanic and he been teachin' Keith how'er take apart a motor and put it all back together in 'bout ten minutes, so Keith an' I were raised knowing how'er fix up anythin'.

"And I know Keith likes doin' all that crazy shit an' all, but this one time he comes runnin' into my home shoutin' _"Ellis, Ellis! I gotter's a job!"_ and I thought he were jokin', but he be jumpin' 'round the kitchen 'til my mama quiet him down with her cookies an' all. Well, turn's out the place where his dad worked jus' fired two guys for foolin' round with some celebrity's limo, or some'ut, so his dad grabbed us the jobs, tellin' 'em _"I know two boys who'll fix 'em up faster than yer customer's able ta even tell ya what the problem is."_

"So Keith and I started workin' there and our boss kinda liked us, says we're as much trouble as the oldens who got fired, but he kinda likes us more so didn't mind Keith borrowin' tools for his inventions and stuff.

"Did I ever tell ya Keith was an inventor? Yeah, our tree house was always full of his crazy inventions. He said he 'ad created some time machine, and he was goin' round puttin' flyers through the doors of all the ladies he knew, and that's how he got the ladies to hang out with us in our treehouse. Keith was always full of them crazy ideas."

Zoey's eyes began to softly close, and Ellis could tell she was on the verge of dropping off. "Yer tired?"

She smiled softy, not opening her eyes. "Yeah."

"Yer want me to shut up?"

"I don't mind."

With his boner gone and Zoey's fatigue suddenly contagious, Ellis turned onto his front, arms under his pillow, and watched her as she began to slip away. "Goodnight, Miss Zoey."

Her mouth twitched a soft smile. "Night, tiger."

Ellis closed his eyes, and suddenly he was no longer awake.


	6. When the Heavens Open

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ellis is a bit of a dick in this chapter... And by dick I mean he's thinking with his dick... Don't ask; he's just a little horny, okay?
> 
> ALSO: I realised when I wrote this chapter I forgot they were wearing CEDA armour, so this chapter is WRONG!!! Feel free to still read it, but it might change when I rewrite it to fit.... Sorry about that!

When Ellis woke up, a giggle of sparks flew through his chest when he felt Zoey pressing her nose into his neck. He smiled, closing his eyes again to enjoy the moment, but then she sat up. "Time to get up, tiger."

He opened his eyes and smiled up at her, squinting past the morning sun that was pouring behind her. "Morning, sunshine."

There was a strange feeling in the air, and at first the feeling scared Ellis a little bit, but then he realised it must be the sexual tension between the two of them. It was probably due to the sudden lack of choice now, the "plenty more fish" all dead, and as far as he was concerned the only two females who he seemed to like and who were around his age were Rochelle and Zoey, and Rochelle seemed to have her sight set on Francis, if he ever recovered from the flu. The normal flu-- not this horrible green icky flu that zombified people-- the normal flu which... wait, that also zombified people, but at least they were better after a few weeks. For Francis, it was taking a bit longer than a few weeks, much to everyone's, especially Rochelle's, disappointment and worry. But he's Francis; he'll be back on his feet in no time.

Ellis was left with Zoey. Maybe that's why he liked her so much. It was like being stuck on a desert island with her. She and him, seemingly the last two. Well, at least he thought that way. She was the last female for him.

 _Was he the last male for her?_ Zoey liked Louis. But they were just friends, right? She was laughing a lot at his jokes, that beautiful laughter, and Louis was smiling at her just as much as he was. Louis was nice to Zoey. Louis had known Zoey longer. Louis and Zoey were room-mates back in the CEDA Camp. Louis and Zoey.

No. Louis didn't like Zoey like that. Louis had been flirting with one of the other female CEDA survivors. He wasn't interested in Zoey.

 _What about Nick?_ Nah, Nick was too old for Zoey. How old was Nick? 45? 44? On that note, _how old was Zoey?_ She must have been around Ellis' age. She had said she was in university, so she must have been 20 or so. Maybe 21, 22?

Ellis sat up from the bed and watched as Zoey slipped back into her CEDA armour. The curve of her back as she bent down. The glow on her hair. The roundness of her arse. Ellis mentally slapped himself and threw the covers off himself to get dressed as well.

They joined the other two for some too-processed-to-even-mould dry cereal and a cup of coffee Nick somehow expertly made like he was a Star buck's barrister in his past life. Once they were finished, Louis pointed out the obvious: "This is a good safe house."

"It is, isn't it?" Nick agreed.

"Should we keep using this Safe House as a place to sleep?" Louis asked.

"It makes sense," Zoey said, "and if there are any survivors in this area, then they might see the sign on the roof and come in here. It'd be easier than going to find them."

"So," Ellis spoke up, "three beds."

Zoey nudged him. "What, was it really that bad?"

"Forget it."

Ellis wasn't sure whether he was in a good or bad mood today. Part of him was happy because of his cute wake-up call, but all the early morning thinking had got him secretly glaring at Louis and Nick behind his goggles.

The Safe House door opened and after running down the few flights of stairs to the ground floor, Zoey snipped the few surrounding zombies through the crack in the door. They left, treading over the bodies, and began to head to where the maps indicated the fence supplies would be dropped off: a field across the other side of the city, symboled on the map by a blue cross in the bottom corner.

Down a street, diverted by a crashed truck, inside a greengrocers ( _more like grossers,_ Ellis thought as he whiffed the mouldy vegetables,) upstairs, dodge a Hunter, out onto the balcony, shoot a Smoker who tangled Louis, jump across to the next balcony, balance across the beam onto the roof opposite, snipe the stumbling flock down in the park, down the ladder, fracture a spine between a wall and a Charger, wait for Nick to stop getting humped by a jockey to be picked up, limp to a white tent, health pack, adrenalin shot, pipe bomb, down another street, into a burnt house, up the stairs, burn from the Spitter acid, head-shot, hop onto truck roof, jump off in next street, get covered in Boomer puke, attract hoard, scratched arm, twisted ankle, clawed face, hurt back, yellow shirt now red, get up, follow Zoey, Safe House.

Ellis lent against the wall of the Safe Room, knees kicked out from under him by his lack of energy, and his butt hit the floor with a loud thud. He winched, shuddering a breath, and when he felt the caring, loving hands take his adrenalin shot from his belt and stab it into his leg, he opened his eyes and smiled up at _his beautiful hero._

And of course it was Louis. _Bloody Louis._

"You okay, man?"

Ellis decided that wasting the adrenalin on being cocky with Louis wasn't worth it, and although the first aid he had on his back was probably a bit more useful than the injection, Ellis felt that maybe Louis did make the right call by saving it for later. Ellis was fine; he was just a little out of breath... and out of bullets, now that he realised. He got up, patting Louis' shoulder in a silent yet stern "thanks" before covering up his limp as he approached where Nick and Zoey were picking weapons and loading their guns.

Zoey gave Ellis a small smile. "You alright now?"

Ellis smiled. "Yeah."

"You're an idiot, Ellis," Nick said, because when had Nick ever said anything to brighten the room? "You're just a zombie magnet, aren't you? Puke, slime, spit, guts, gore... You must have a target board painted on your shirt." Nick stepped into Ellis' face. "Oh wait, I found it. It's right here on you're face." Nick raised his arm in a punch before bringing it down to skewiff Ellis' hat. Zoey giggled as Ellis corrected it.

Louis got his map out and pointed to the red Safe House symbol. "I think we're here."

"There's two more on the way to where the supplies are," Nick pointed out.

Zoey nudged Ellis arm gently. "Should be easy enough."

"What're we gonna do when we get the supplies?" Ellis asked, and he was right. A plan ahead of time was probably a good idea. "Are we all jus' gonna start puttin' up the fence or are two of us gonna be on guards duty or somethin'?"

"Ellis is right--"

Nick rolled his eyes. "For once,"

"-- when we get there, we'll take it in turns. Two put up some of the fence while two get rid of any zombies lurking around," Zoey said.

Louis put the map away. "Alright."

Nick sniped a few more zombies through the bars before he opened the door. There was a storm cloud above, and the smell of rain was lingering again. The hairs on Ellis' arms began to tingle with electricity, and the last thing he really wanted right now was another thunder storm. He stayed behind Nick, because part of him right now was damaged, mostly his pride since the taint of shame from realising that he had been such a dick to Louis that morning was eating at him, and he felt like letting Nick go out in front was probably a better idea than attracting another hoard.

The streets around this end were quieter. The empty buildings around them echoed even the slightest shuffle from the zombies, so the few they ran into fell to the ground before they had even spotted them. A Hunter was lurking around an old record shop, and although it growled from the shadows, it didn't show itself. Ellis wasn't sure whether it was hiding from something or just waiting for the right time to strike, but they passed it's territory without much of a hitch. Cutting through a side alley, they made it onto the Main Street, avoiding the alarmed car Louis pointed out, and after Zoey took down the Jockey before it could pounce on Nick, they soon found themselves slowly becoming drenched from the Heavens that had just opened.

There was a role of moaning thunder, and it was only after Louis and Zoey turned off their torches that Ellis realised that beneath the clasp was an actual cry. They crept into the darkened bar, broken glass crunching under their feet as they all tiptoed through into the back rooms and up the stairs. The crying was getting louder, as was the rain outside, and they soon found themselves all stood in the landing staring at the silhouetted Witch that was blocking the exit to the balcony.

"Ideas?" Louis asked. Everyone shrugged.

"Is there another way around?" Zoey asked.

  
Ellis ran his fingers across the pipe bomb on his belt. "I could jus' blow her up?"

Nick slapped the back of Ellis' head. "Don't be stupid. She'd rip you to shreds."

Ellis rubbed the spot where Nick had just hit and sheepishly frowned at the floor. "Well, maybe then y'all could jus' shoot her while she's on top of me; easy target?"

Zoey placed a hand on Ellis' shoulder. "Sweety, you don't have to sacrifice yourself like that." She turned to look at Nick as the Witch began to breath heavily. "Can we find another way around?"

Nick shrugged. "Maybe we should--"

Ellis spotted it, but about 95% of his brain was focused on Zoey's hand on his shoulder, her index finger slowly caressing the slither of skin around his collar. The other 5% told his to start firing at the Tank, but it wasn't until Louis was thrown down the stairs, Nick was flattened under it's feet and Zoey was flung straight across the room into the Witch that Ellis pointed his gun at the beast and open fired.

He screamed. He roared back at the monster as it pounded it's fists into the air. Nick got up off the floor behind it and fired as well, and despite how much blood was spilling from the Tank, it still fixed it's eyes on Ellis with a look of determination of termination. Ellis could hear Louis screaming for assistance on the grown floor, and there was another cry from behind him where he knew that if he turned around he would find Zoey being pinned down by the Witch, and as much as Ellis would have given anything to see another girl go down on Zoey and rip her clothes off, he knew that behind him wasn't going to be a pretty sight.

The Tank charged towards Ellis, and after following Nick's command, he dodged out of the way and let the Tank smash through the French Doors and down onto the street below. Ellis turned around, blinded by Nick's gunfire aimed at the Witch, and Ellis found himself ignoring Zoey for a moment to run onto the balcony next to the two females to shoot down at the stumbling Tank to finish the job. The beast collapsed back to the concrete below them with a satisfying thump, and his attention came back to his survivors when the Witch's body floated off the balcony to join the Tank's.

Ellis turned to look at his side, and he hated himself for freezing in that moment. Zoey was on the floor, her clothes more red than they had meant to be, her skin drowned in her own blood, clutching the gashes in her chest and neck. She was wincing through her screams, her legs kicking out, and if she had a free hand he knew it would be clutching Nick's arm. Nick was bent over her, grasping her shoulders, screaming down at her to hold on, although Ellis couldn't hear what he was saying. Nick looked up, back into the room, hearing something. He turned to glare at Ellis, screaming something, something about something, before reaching forward to grab the First Aid on Ellis' back, keeping it attacked to his shirt, pulling his down so that Ellis collapsed next to Zoey before running back inside and downstairs.

Ellis pressed his cheek into the balcony floor and stared at Zoey's screaming face. She was going to die. She was going to bleed to death. He could save her. He could heal her.

Or he could just sleep. He could close his eyes and wake up from this nightmare.

He sat up, the loud crash of thunder bring his hearing and morality back, and he brought the first aid off his back and opened it up. Zoey let go of her neck and attempted to slap Ellis' arm. "About time!"

"I'm sorry."

"Fucking heal me already!"

The cuts on her neck were minimal. Nothing dangerous, just deep enough to draw blood without her windpipe of main arteries being severed. Her chest was the problem. Ellis took Zoey's hand and moved it aside so he could see. She calmed down a little and stopped moving around so much, just enough to let Ellis run his hands along the underside of her boobs to push the clashing reds of her jacket to the side. Her white shirt was mostly gone, and so was her bra, now that he was actually thinking about it, but even if he was going to think with his dick more than his head, there was too much blood to actually see anything, so he didn't let it affect him.

He wiped up the blood, poured alcohol over the wounds, and after shrugging all of her top layers off so that she was half-naked on the balcony of a house on Main Street, he wrapped the bandage around her chest, bringing back some much needed health and dignity she deserved.

Ellis pulled her up to her feet. She lent on him, her eyes drooping, but her found her strength in time to lean down and pick up her jacket to cover herself before Nick and Louis got back upstairs.

"A Jockey... A Hunter... A Boomber... And a Smoker..." Louis, leaning on Nick's shoulder, panted out, waving an arm at Ellis.

Zoey looked down the street. "There's the Safe House."

Ellis looked over her shoulder. "Next door? Ya kiddin' me?"

Nick chuckled. "Okay then. Let's go."


	7. Wash Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This somehow ended up turning into a deleted scene from 50 Shades... :0 (Barely...)

The day went fast. When Ellis thinks back on that day, all he really remembers is a helicopter air dropping a lot of fencing and some more weapons, and by the time the sun was setting Nick and Louis had managed to get up about half a mile's worth of fence across the boarder. They made it back to their main Safe House, a place which Ellis had now dubbed "Home", in one piece or so, and as much as Ellis wanted to collapse into the warm, soft bed as the dull moonlit cloud of night lullabyed his aching head, he instead found himself pulling Zoey into the bathroom gently by her beltloop and locking the door behind them.

He closed his eyes and lent against the door. The wave of safety finally hit him, and as much as he wanted to sink down to the floor, he stayed upright, head tilted back, just breathing in through his nose sharply as he thought. He stayed like that for a few minutes, just breathing and thinking, before a gentle hand weaved it's way onto his neck from his chest. He felt her fingers motheringly tug at the curls poking out the back of his hat, and he let the corner of his mouth smile. He open his eyes a slither to look at her.

Zoey was worst than he was physically, but Ellis knew that for some strange reason her hopes were much higher than his. What was wrong with him today? He felt so lost, like he was the one who almost got ripped to shreds by a Witch. It much have been the sudden reintroduction to death and danger.

Zoey sheepishly smiled, slowly taking a step into Ellis' breathing space, cautious of getting too close, but Ellis soon found her hands under his hat, massaging the curls that lay greasy and damn there. He pulled his head towards her, letting the hat fall to the floor, and without much thinking he placed his chin on top of her head, looping his arms around to place both hands on the small of her back and pulled her into his chest. They breathed together like this for a moment, sucking in the life that each other somehow managed to radiate.

Ellis looked at the shower behind Zoey. Louis had said something about there being clean water, and if their Home had electricity, then there must have been hot water.

Tilting his head so that his nose weaved into Zoey's hair, his let his hands fall to her waist, pulling back up along her front to where the zip lay dented and battered across her heart. He let a finger dance across the skin above it, a silent ask, and as if sensing the permission he slowly began to unzip her jacket. Zoey gasped slightly as the jolt of the zip finally undoing at the end hit her slightly. Ellis breathed in. He brushed his palms against the skin on her waist again, fingers digging in her back slightly, security, and he let his hands trail back up to her shoulders so that he could push the jacket to the floor.

Zoey was still looped around his waist, the bare skin of her shoulders and stomach as well as the bloodied bandages pressing against Ellis' shirt. She had her eyes closed, exhausted, but she lent back and gently smiled up at him when he held her head in his hands to get a good look at her. "We gonna get'cha cleaned up?"

Zoey nodded. She took control, turning around to see if the shower would turn on, which sobered up the reality into the room that seemed to have been drunk on erotica. The shower turned on, and Zoey flinched as the cold water hit her arm. "It's cold."

Ellis placed as hand on the back of her shoulder. "It'll warm up." He turned her around to look at the bandages. They'd have to come off. He pointed at them. "Ye don't mind, do you?"

Zoey gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Well, you've already seen them once today."

Ellis rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, yeah, but'cha were covered in blood an' shit."

Zoey laughed and reached up to start untying the bandages. She made quick work of it at first, but slowed down as the layers got closer to her wounds. Ellis placed his hands on top of hers slowly, taking the stained material from them. "Shush. I'll do it." He unwrapped the rest of the bandages slowly, carefully watching his hands, and when he pulled away that last tacky piece he darted his eyes up before Zoey could judge. "Looks good." He mentally slapped himself. "You're cuts. They look better."

Steam was coming from the shower, and Ellis would have cheered if it weren't for the lack of energy. Zoey ignored Ellis while she stripped her lower half, and when her arm ran under the warm water she let out a moan. "Oh God," she throatily said, "I didn't think I'd ever have a warm shower again." She let the water hit her chest, and although her back was to him, Ellis could imagine the way the water was trickling down the underside of her boobs, only then he started to imagine how it would have been mixing with the blood and again his illusion shattered.

After about three minutes, Zoey turned to look over her shoulder at Ellis. She seemed stronger now, the flashback to the old life that the shower had given her had also seemed to given her strength. "Are you just gonna stare the whole time or are you gonna hop in?"

Ellis was at the point where he didn't know what to expect from Zoey. This whole day had taught him one thing: sex is not the meaning of life, and as much as he had spent the day thinking about it, he knew deep down that sex was not his reward for surviving today. Today was just another day. There was nothing different about it.

Well, maybe the whole showering naked with a very hot girl was different than most days, but Ellis was willing to look past that for the sake of his sanity.

He stripped, leaving his clothes next to Zoey's on the bathroom floor, and after smiling a thank you to Zoey for letting his quickly rinse himself off, he stepped under the glorious warmth of the water and let everything wash away. He felt the jealously drain away, he felt the anger and rage flush out. He let the lust and hunger flow out of his and down the plug hole and soon felt like he was Ellis again. He held his face up into the stream, holding his breath as the water beat all the dirt and filth out of his head until he had to take a step back and breath in the steam that had filled the room.

Zoey smiled at him. "Nice, isn't it?"

Ellis nodded. "It sure is, Miss Zoey."

Zoey half-smiled, running an arm under the water again to warm back up. She rubbed her hand up and down the arm, letting the skin rub off the mud from her fingertips. She lazily dropped her eyes, allowing the water to smother her like a blanket once again, and Ellis had to step forward and join her in the warm rain as it cascaded around the both of them. Again, there they were, weaved in each other, breathing, thinking, and soon Ellis found another source of warm water coming from his eyes, and another mixed in with the water on his chest, and he then realised that all the lust and jealousy and anger had been covering up a dark truth of reality that had the both of them crying in each others arms with only the sound of the shower to drown out their sorrows.

When they finally made it to bed, after ignoring Nick's cocky wink when they left the bathroom together, Ellis stared up at the ceiling for an hour, watching the in-and-out glow of the moon as the clouds rolled by. Zoey rolled onto her back. "You still awake?"

Ellis breathed in. "Yep."

Zoey reached across, placing a hand on his bare shoulder. She understood. There was something about being so young and carefree that just hit you when you least expected it, the reality of how deathly your life is. Ellis wondered if Rochelle or Louis ever felt this realisation. He doubted the older ones would have felt the same.

"Zoey?"

"Yeah-huh?"

Ellis breathed in through his nose slowly. He thought for a second, debating whether or not he should, but in the end decided to say it. "I thought I was gonna loose ya." He brought a hand from where they were crossed on his stomach and wove his fingers through his hair. "I thought ya weren't gonna make it. That Witch, it---"

Zoey rolled over so that her head rested on his shoulder. "Sweety. It's okay. I'm alright." She placed a hand on his chest. "We're both alright."

Ellis sighed. "But what if I loose ya?"

"You won't loose me. And even if you did, you'd still have Nick and Louis." Zoey nuzzled her nose into his side. "Nick'll look after you."

Ellis' breath hitched. "But what if you loose me? What if I do somethin' stupid and I get all broken and dead and shit? Then what?"

Zoey sat up slightly, leaning over to look down at Ellis in the dark. Leaning on one hand, she brought the other up to gently stroke the side of his face in a small caress. "Ellis, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. You're the strongest guy I know." She laughed a little. "I mean, have you ever seen one guy get rode by three Jockeys at the same time and survive?"

Ellis laughed as well. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"And how many other guys do you know have tried to distract a Tank from charging by dancing the Gangnam Style while throwing molotovs?"

Ellis rocked the bed with his laughed. He lent up, catching his breath, and for a moment he realised that yeah, although he was an idiot, he could see the way his stupidity was bringing life into normality. Zoey's smile as she talked about him. Her laugh.

It died down, and they both stared at each other, sat up in bed, and they both knew it was going to happen before either of them moved. It probably wasn't as graceful as Ellis had hoped it would have looked, but he didn't really care. He found himself with his lips clasping Zoey's bottom lip, and with a small gasp of relief that they were both on the same page, they fell backwards, sinking into the bed together, and Ellis allowed this kiss to be todays prize for surviving this long.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, WIP at moment... This is my first L4D fanfic (certainly not my first fanfic ever!) so I hope I can portray the characters to everyone's satisfactory. :) Hit me up with your thoughts on the story :)  
> \-- Jess


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